Electric heater.



B. VAN STEENBERGH.v ELECTRIC HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. Il, 1914.

Patented June 29, 1915.

Eli

UNTTETD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUnHANs 'van srE-ENERen, or GosHEN, New YORK.

ELECTRIC HEATER.

Patented June 29, 1915.

Original application filed July 2, 1914, Serial No. 848,600. Divided and this application led December 11,

' 1914. Serial No. 876,643.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BURnANs VAN STEnN- BERGH, a citizen of the United States, residing atGoshen, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented certain new and4 useful Improvements' in Electric Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric .heaters adapted more particularly for use m generating carbureted hydrogen from hydrocarbon oil, but also suitable for general application for electric heating purposes..

The object of my invention is to provlde a convenient and edective electric heater,

Lrlnreferablyin the form of a tube or cylinder,

aving an effective insulation, but good heat conducting material between 'the resistance Vmaterial and the container tube, and the exterior surface of the latter having a catalytic agent ,coating of suitable metallic-oxids.

One of the special objects of my invention is to provide means whereby the deposition or partial deposition of carbon by destructive decomposition of hydrocarbon oil upon the heating surface will be prevented, thereby. maintaining the illuminating quality of the gas generated of constant candle power, and effecting greateconomy 1n the operation of a gas generating apparatus. .y The matterl constituting my invention herein will be defined in the claims.

- Thel details of construction of my improved heater are shown in the accompanying` drawing, in whichl igure 1 represents a sectional elevatlo of'partofan electric gas generator, showing myl heater mounted therein. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of a heater on enlarged scale, with a part broken away.

l.I i`ig. 8 represents a transverse section of a heater. Fig. 4 represents-a'transverse section of a heaterofmodiled construction.

This is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 848,600, for apparatus for manufacturing. carbureted hydrogen gas. The heater is designedand constructed more particularly for use ifa-,an electric gas generator, but may be' applied to otheIf-lneat-l ing purposes.

The generator 1 is constructed of .unit sections composed of a plate-iron shell 7 having an inwa rdly-projectingl flangeY 8, van .asbestos insulating limng 9 and a fire-brick lining 10. vPipes 6, each having a valvev a and a spray nozzle d project into theV chamfaces ada ted to fit the curved surface of the shell Theshell and lining may be rectangular in cross section, permitting the use of fiat washers.

A card-board cylinder or tube 14. is provided and has-applied to its outer surface a coating paste `composed of nely ground silical and finely ground carbonate of lime mixed with sodium silicate diluted with Water to form a pasty mass. This paste is molded around the cylinder and then allowed to harden. This forms an insulating jacket 15 which will be a 4plied .next to the outer iron tube 11. In t e interiorl of the card-board cylinder is placed a mass of granular carbon 16, and into the ends are inserted hard carbon electrodes 16, 16"A so as to compress the mass of anular carbon to the desired extent and t us establish .a connection of resistance material between the electrodes. The electric heater thus produced is 'placedwithin the .iron tube l1 and the outery coating serves as an insulator between the resistance material and-the metal, and prevents short-circuiting of the electric current. To further insulate the heating member from the metal tube, suitable dielectric rings 15a are located preferably adjacent to' the ends of the tube11. When the electric current is passed through the heater the card-board will be burned away, becoming carbonized and forming in effect part of the electric conductor. d y

In making gas b the splitting of hydrocarbon oil into ricli gases of the olefin series it is important to provide a catalytic agent coating on the surfaces of the electric heaters to prevent destructive decomposition of the oil and the consequent deposit of carbon on the heaters, entailing a loss of illuminante and fou-ling the heaters. For thiscatalytic agent coating'I preferably ema paste composed ofy metallic oxidssuc 'as oxids of calcium, magnesium, barium and strontiumone or more, mixed with dilute silicate of sodium. The paste is applied to form acoat 18 on the outer surface of the iron tube 11. This catalytic coating prevents the iron, when heated to incandescence, from spoiling the' illuminating quality of the gas by causing deposition of-carbon; it also aids by catalytic action in splitting up the oil into gases of high illuminating qualityf-such as gases lof t e olefin series includingr ethylene (02H4), acetylene (C2H2) and methan (CI-I4).

.By aid of properly regulated heat with auxiliary help ofa catalytic agent coating, as above described, in a heated state the paraiins in heated oil vapor may be split chemically so as to produce large percentages of permanent gases of the olefin series and of the acetylene series, both of which arel far more valuable as illuminants than are the parain gases. I-Ience the marked advantage of my catalytic agent coating 18 on the iron tubes 11. The coating is fire proof. The coating of silicate and lime on the interior card-board cylinder is a good conductor of heat and an eiiective insulator of electricity. The Velectrodes and resistance material being inclosedin tubes, the heat is evenly distributed, so that there is no liability to vburn or destructively decompose oil and form lamp black or hard carbon, as would occur if the oil was supplied in direct contact with refractory resistance material through which an electric current was being passe l A plurality of tile or re brick bars 17 are located in the heating chambers 5 adjacent to the electric heaters and will become heated by heat radiated from the latter. These tiles serve by their extended heated surfaces to help split the oil into fixed gases.

The unit sections may be connected by 'ears 19 and bolts, and may be provided with outwardly projecting lugs 20 to which hooks and chains may be attached for elevating the section.

'A thermostat 28 may be connected with any of the heaters, and an electric conductor 29 will be connected with each electrode and supplied with current from a suitable source of energy.

Instead of the cardboard cylinders 'used in making the insulating cylinders, as above described, I may use thin wood veneer or some other material which will become carbonized by passage of an electric current through the heater. l

A modified form of electric heater is shown in Fig. 4. in which is embodied a fire-clay tube 15P, burned at a temperature of about 3,000o F. as a substitute for the metal tube '11 and interior insulating tube 14, 15 shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The tube 15b may be five inches, more or less, in diameter with walls vbetween the ends of the electrodes 16'aL `forms aresistanee, by means of which a succession of small or short electric arcs are produced, thus converting the electric energy into heat, thereby heating the tube @hat part filled with the granular carbon from the inside to the surface. The'heat is localized within the fire-brick walls of the generator or unitl sections due to the much greater resistance oii'ered by the/ granular carbon than that which is offered by the carbon electrodes,A

and such localized heat is imparted to adjacent'tiles '17 and intervening space, so as to produce substantially uniformly heated surfaces and zones.

Having described'my invention, what. I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. An electric heater comprising a metal tube having an exterior catalytic agent coating an interior tube of insulating material, granular resistance material .within the same and electrodes in the ends of the tube and bearing -against said resistance material.

2. An electric heater constructed with a metal tube, an inner tube of card-board having an exterior insulating coating of silicate paste, electrodes in the ends of said inner tube and a filling of granular resistance material in the tube between 'the electrodes. A,

3. The combination with the walls of a chamber, of an electric heater tube, having an exterior catalytic agent coating to prevent deposit of carbon, said tube extending through the walls and chamber, electrodes in the opposite ends of said tube and resistance material in the tube between the electrodes.

4. In a heating chamber, an electric heater tube having an exterior coating of metallic oxid as a catalytic agent, electrodes in the opposite ends of, and insulated from, said tube, and resistance material between the ends of the electrodes. n

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of' two witnesses.

BURHANS VAN STEENBERGH.

Witnesses:

' J. B. LYDEGKER,

EDMUND C. Locnwoon. 

